Double-plug connecter for electrical circuits



ct, M 1924.

S; H, WENTZ DOUBLE PLUG CONNECTER FOR ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS Filed Nov. 28', 1922 IN V [5N TOR (fey/r1 mm ff Mm z All SOUR H. WENTZ, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

DOUBLE-PLUG CONNECTER FOR ZlilLIElCTRIGAL CIRCUITS.

Application filed November 28, 1922. Serial No. 603,765.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, SEYMOUR H. WENTZ, a citizen of the United States, and resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Double- Plug Connectors ior Electrical Circuits, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a circuit connecter which has plug terminals adapted for insert-ion in the push-plug sockets of any ordinary wall outlet, or of lamp-socket plugs, and also has two pairs of sockets, so that by inserting this connecter instead of an ordinary plug, two plug-circuit connectionsmay bev made to one outlet or other circuit fitting, instead of one.

An im ortant object of the invention is to provi e a connecter of this type which is very simple, consisting of very few parts, and which may therefore be manufactured very economically, and. which at the same time is strong and durable, and provides satisfactory insulation for the enclosed conductors.

Another object is to arrange such an appliance so that certain parts may be made in exact duplicate, which further reduces the manufacturin cost.

The characteristlcs and advantages of the invention are further explained in connection with the following detail description of the accompanying drawings, 'which show one exemplifying embodiment of the invention. After considering this embodiment, persons skilled in. the art will understand that variations may be made within the principles of the invention; and l contemplate the employment of any structures that are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

In the-drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the connecter or plug, positioned for insertion in a wall 'outlet or screw plug socket, also showing an ordinary push plug positioned for insertion in one branch or outlet of the connector. Fig. 2 is an end view of the appliance. Fig. 3 is an inside view of one of the body sections with the conductors in position therein.

Fig. 4L is a perspective view of one of the combined conductor, plug terminal and terminal clip members.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing the bridg of the two conductors.

The body B of the appliance is made in two sections 1 which may be exact duplicates. The two sections have flat inner faces 2 which meet in the vertical center plane of the appliance, as best shown in Fig. 2; and the two members are secured together by screws or rivets passing through holes 3 after the conductors have been inserted.

Each section of the body is formed so that when two sections are put together in the manner described, the complete body has two branches or outlets 6, each of which is adapted to receive an ordinary'push-plug P, Fig. 1. In order to receive the push-plug terminals 10, each branch I) has two sockets s and 3, each socket being formed'jointly by channels in the two body sections as presently explained.

' The body sections are formed of any suit- 7% able insulating material. In some cases they may be of porcelain or other suitable vitreous material, but in a great many preferred cases the body sections are of molded synthetic resins which are familiar in the 30 art under various trade names.

In, each branch I) of each body section, as best shown in Fig. 3, is a relatively wide channel 4 usually having parallel side walls,

this channel forming one half of the socket s W end each of the channels 4 may be of reduced width and is curved towards the center line of the body section, as at 6, and at a point somewhat away from the center line (which is sufliciently indicated by the centers of the rivet holes 3) the channel portion 6 is inteisected by a channel 7 leading to the upper flat surface 8 of the body section. Adjacent to the point of intersection of channel portions 6 and 7, a continuation of the channel section 6 of increased width is formed, as

at 9. A narrower extension 10 of channel section 9 crosses the center line of the body section and continues on downward, mergmg with the upper end of the channel section 5 in the opposite branch of the body section. When the two identical body sections are put together to form a complete body, the channel arangement above de scribed produces two continuous Interior passages, parts of each ofwhich constitute 11w one of the sockets s and one of the sockets a in the opposite branch of the body; these bers are desirably made of thin flexible sheet other.

metal having considerable spring such as copper or copper alloy, and they may be stampedand pressed into the form shown in Fig. 4 by a single set or series of dies, since the two members 12 employed in each appliance may be exact duplicates of each curved portion 13 conforming generally to the shape of one of the channels in the body sections. At one end a portion 14 of the strip is bent back to form a clip to cooperate with one of the plug terminals p of any stuitable or standard push-plug P, and similarly at the other end of the strip 13 a portion 15 is bent back to form a clip to cooperate with a plug terminal. Each of these spring clips'desirably is formed with a shallow knob or projection 16 adapted to snap into a socket or hole. 17 usually provided near the end of the plug terminal 70.

At a point substantially corresponding with the intersection of the body channels when the conductor member is placed in the body, as shown in Fig. 3, a notch 18 is cut out of the strip. The conductor member as shown in Fig. 4 is in substantially the proper position to insert in one of the channels of one of the bodysections, and-when the position of the conductor is reversed, it is adapted to fit in the other body section channel, and when two conductors of identical form are thus arranged and placed in the body channels as shown in Fig. 3, the notches 18 correspond so that there is an ample air gap at all points between the metal of the two conductors where they cross each other, this gap providing ample insulation. When the conductors are placed as described, the clip 14 of one conductor is located in one of the socket channels 4 0 one branch of the body'section, and the other clip 15 of that conductor is located in the socket channel 5 of the opposite branch of the body section. In this way yieldable or spring clips for two plug terminals p are provided in each branch of the appliance.

A push terminal 20 consisting of a strip of suitable sheet metal usually thicker'and stifler than the conductor strip 12 is provided for each conductor, one end of this terminal being bent at a slight angle to pro vide a member 21 which is riveted to the conductor in such a position that the terminal 20 will extend through one of the body channels 7 when the conductor is placed in the body in either of its possible positions,

Each of these conductors has a,

When the body sections and conductor pieces with their terminal projections have been assembled either by placing both of the "conductor members in one body section as shown in Fig. 3, or by placing one conductor member in each body section in appropriate positions, the two body sections are brought together as shown in Fig. 2, whereupon the channels and conductors cooperate or correspond in the manner previously sufficiently described; and the assembly is then completed by inserting rivets or screws, as also previously explained.

The appliance may be inserted in any wall plug terminal or a push-plug-socket which is screwed into a lamp socket, as sufficiently indicated in Fig. 1, and two ordinary or standard push-plugs P may then be inserted in the branches of the appliance, or of course only one of them may be used at a time, as may be desired.

The appliance as constructed in a preferred form, as herein shown, may consist therefore of only two principal parts, each duplicated, or four principal parts in all, that is to say, two of the complete conductor and terminal members as shown in. Fig. 4, and two of the body sections shown in Fig. 3. Of course in a convenient method of manufacture, each conductor member comprises two parts, that is, the strip 12 and the terminal 20, but these are preferably assembled to form a complete operative unit as shown in Fig. 4, and these units are then inserted in the body sections in the manner previously described. By reason of the very small number of parts and the duplication of parts in each appliance, the device may be very cheaply manufactured with a very ment such as molds and dies.

I claim:

1. A connecter for electrical circuits comprising duplicate body sections of insulating material secured together and having cooperating internal curved passages, and duplicate conductor members located in the passages, the conductor members being formed of sheet metal strips curved to conform to said body passages, the strips havpush-plug-socket or wall outlet.

2. A double outlet plug comprising two body sections of insulating material and of substantially identical form secured together with inner flat faces in contact, each body moderate expense for manufacturing equipsection having two intersecting channels depressed in its inner face, an end portion of each channel constituting a substantially straight socket portion and intermediate parts of each channel having a substantially carved formation, the channels in the two body sections cooperating to provide two intersecting body passages and two pairs of plug-terminal sockets, a conductor strip of spring sheet metal located in each of the body passe es, each end of each strip having a defiectabe clip portion located in one of the body sockets, the strips being provided with cmperating notches to provide insulating clearance at a point corresmnding with the passage intersection, each conductor having an operatively-integral push terminal extending outward through a branch of a body passage to provide a pair of terminals Witt to cooperate with an ordinary pla -socket or 20 wall outlet, the conductor members being substantial du licates.

Signed at ew York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 27th day of No'vbn, A. D. 1922.

SEYMOUR H. WENTZ. 

